Confident striker targets 25-goals

Berwick striker Darren Lavery bagged his fifth goal of the season when he netted the late equaliser against Stirling Albion at Shielfield on Saturday.

Now the striker, who hit the net 20 times on his debut season in 2012-13, says he hopes to do even better this time around.

“I have set myself a target of 25 for the season,” he said.

“No one thought I could get 20 in my first season after stepping up, and I know 25 sounds like a tall order, but that’s five for me already and I’m feeling confident.”

Team manager Ian Little said: “I will be happy if Daz gets 20, maybe even 15, but I am pleased he feels so confident he has set himself a high target.”

Of Saturday’s goal against Stirling, Lavery said: “There was a foul on me in the build-up and the referee said that if I hadn’t scored he would have awarded a penalty, but it was nice to find the net, because overall this wasn’t my best game.

“It was a timely goal for us because it looked like we might have been heading for a defeat.

“But one point is better than none and now it sets us up nicely for the East Stirling game next weekend.

“We tried to hit Stirling with the long ball in the first half, but we didn’t really create many chances, so I was pleased we changed it around in the second half, going two up top.

“That let me back into the middle and I was a lot happier there.

“But I realise we have a squad of players here and sometimes we need to play differently.”

“It would have been nice to go top with a win over Stirling Albion, but now we know we can do it next week when we play East Stirling, and it’s a challenge all the players are looking forward to.”

Lavery says there is a good team spirit within the Berwick camp and the players are confident they can go on and make a push for the top.

“Everyone is up for it,” he said, “and Saturday’s game against East Stirling will be a big one for us.”